Using a fan for cardio? yes / no.

[Monster2]

Here's a question for the real experts! (I haven't found much online)
right now, my primary exercise is using my treadmill. I do various settings, still pretty slow though, but this applies to all cardio or stationary machine workout.
Is it okay to use a fan during your workouts? (my treadmill and many machines have a small built in fan) I know the simple answer is yes, it's okay.
But I have a couple of concerns:
1) Will my oxygen intake be artificially increased? I'm a bit concerned because I'd like to be able to build my stamina, and that also means lung capacity. (I'm not a smoker, nor do I have any lung problems) I'm afraid that if I use a fan I'll be avoiding working out my lungs as well.
2) Heat decrease. It's been shown that you need to increase your body temperature to lose weight. (that's why swimming isn't as good for weight loss as other forms of exercise) I'm afraid to lose the benefit of sweating and losing heat during my workouts, which helps metabolism.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Monster2]

hmmm..... ..... ..... ?????

 

[TryingHard2012]

Everyone has a different sweating pattern. Gender, age, fitness level and environment contribute to how much you sweat. Women seem to sweat less and start to sweat at higher temperatures than men. People tend to sweat less as they grow old and thus cannot take the heat as well as a younger person but declining fitness levels may have something to do with that. In laboratory experiments where both young and old people were of similar fitness levels, there was no notable difference in their sweating process.

If you exercise in an air-conditioned room or outside when it’s a cooler time of year, you will not sweat as much because the cold air evaporates your sweat faster and also sets your body up to use more of the radiation method meaning your body can deal with the heat created by exercise more easily. It does not mean you are not burning as many calories because the intensity and length of time of your exercise is what determines caloric burn, not how much you sweat. You are sweating all the time but you just can’t see it because it is always evaporating.

If it were true that the more you sweat, the more calories you burn during exercise then it would also be true that you would be burning more calories simply sitting in a hot, humid room so as to build up a sweat but this is obviously not the case as the sweat you would be seeing is due only to the conditions of the room not allowing for evaporation for cooling the body.

Exercise produces heat, heat produces calorie expenditure, and you produce the same amount of heat whether exercising in a cold environment or a hot one so just because you don’t sweat as much in the colder environment does not mean your exercise session was less productive.

 

[Iain1974]

Well, I'm not an expert, I doubt it would make a significant difference.

I think you'd need to be in a wind tunnel to alter your air intake. Just a guess though.

I tend to sweat like a pig on cardio day (becoming more so on weights day too) and usually pick a machine based on proximity to a ceiling fan. So if there is a difference I'd be interested.